I was horrified to read in today's WSJ Opinion Journal, Obama and the Politics of Crowds, by Fouad Ajami.
There is something odd -- and dare I say novel -- in American politics about the crowds that have been greeting Barack Obama on his campaign trail. Hitherto, crowds have not been a prominent feature of American politics. We associate them with the temper of Third World societies. We think of places like Argentina and Egypt and Iran, of multitudes brought together by their zeal for a Peron or a Nasser or a Khomeini. In these kinds of societies, the crowd comes forth to affirm its faith in a redeemer...
There you have it, folks. I truly wonder why he didn't throw in a reference to the crowds at Zeppelin Field in Nuremburg.
I am writing about it not just because it continues the offensive "Obama is an Arab" meme, but because I think he encapsulates the poverty of Conservative analysis. The disinterest in understanding the issues facing citizens. The tendency to make sweeping statements without real data or understanding, and the tendency to ignore simpler explanations in order to support preposterous assertions.
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